Xtreme97

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A Parkmaker's journey can differ greatly between players - some arrive seemingly fully formed (see the likes of pants or A n d r e w), while others take the scenic route: steadily growing in skill over several years and enjoying the longer path in their stylistic self-discovery (see yours truly). MorganFan falls into the latter camp - his first footprints on NE can be found over a decade ago in 2011, but his first noticeable impressions began in 2019 and 2020, with entries such as Delta Delta and Dr Tiktok's Time Warp. Even in those early moments it was clear that ride design was a strong suit, and he soon became a regular face with appearances in Head-2-Head Classic, Micro Madness and Grand Tour, between which he released a well-themed solo Design: Gale of Amun Ra. Among this a signature style was hard to pin down, but the talent and potential were clear as day.

Head-2-Head X could be considered the "breakthrough" moment, though as with most H2H parks it was perhaps a bit lost in the shuffle, between the contest buzz and collaborative melting pot. His most visible contribution was the excellent giga layout in the Dambuster's last park, Sonnental but his work in Buxom the Sunset Sorceress mustn't go unnoticed either - featuring a contest-highlight inverted coaster. Both represent one of Morgan's best strengths in ride design and integration.

It was only a matter of time then for Morgan to take the next steps, and after a charming canyon-spanning design win for last year's Advent Calendar, Gorgeous Gorge, he has now arrived at the NE Parkmaker title with [REDACTED] - Rumble in the Red Rocks. Featuring a memorable park macro, prominent landscaping choices and another excellently designed layout, Morgan has reached a new height and achieved a well-deserved Parkmaker title for his efforts. Congratulations, Morgan!

Polar Express - Wow, this is such a great use of lighting for the scene, particularly for the reflection in the water! Awesome work.

Magnetosphere - A bit wild but some great use of glass pieces and invisible colour to create an effect in the void. Very different vibe than the others, cool stuff!

Century of Progress Winter - Cool overlay Jag! The snow effects and additional christmas-themed objects to the mix are fun to notice.

Toy Train Town - It's not Christmas without a toy train is it? Nice work, with some cute theming elements.

Well done to everyone who entered the round, I really enjoyed these entries and am pleased to see this setting given life! And thank you all for the feedback and appreciation of our map. I imagine either Steve or I may do a more in depth write-up of the building process but for now I'll just mention that this was a very fun build for us and I found the theme super fun. I initially had a thought of doing a Soviet-style version of "Tomorrowland" for this round but we landed on KSC and it really took off.

 

 

Rumble in the Red Rocks
Wonderful map, Morgan and mama! This was a welcome surprise for me, you're showing off your skill in a big way here and deftly integrating the best of modern techniques with the half diagonal roadway and strong landscape crunch, along with the complexity of the indoor base scenes and how you've interweaved the coaster without overdoing the "spaghetti". There are some real highlights in the 60s roadside architecture (a style I adore), in particular the bomb shelter fireworks building and Googie signage. Inside the mesa base, the coaster dominates and the support work, though a bit garish, is very impressive and on-theme. Some great smaller moments too, such as with the wind tunnel test which is a smart use of the "vibrating" effect. The landscaping is quite cool and splits the map visually in a nice way, my only note would be that the brighter parts of the rockwork make it feel a bit plasticky.

Secrets In The Snow
Awesome to see another AJ entry, and with the cool winter Soviet theme no less. The treeline effect is great as well at driving home the almost isolated setting. The ride design is another of the map's strongest features - the main coaster is so unique with the intertwined spiral lift each leading into a raised launch. Russian pop is such a great soundtrack too.

McCarthy Air Force Base
Solid entry from you both, was looking forward to this collabo when deano told me, and the result is great. The underground cut-outs are the high point of the map for me, excellent use of the void to frame it rather than loads of rockwork and the infrastructural details are so nicely made. As for the above ground, I had a great time exploring all the details you included. The town area did feel a bit dead unfortunately but the style and signage were lovely. The coaster is cool, the vertical launch being a good tie-in to the rocket launch theme. There are a couple of rough bits with regard to the "finish" and some of the landscaping, but they're quite easily forgivable, and the desert foliage was very nicely done.

The Men Who Stare At Oats
Nice work Narc, this is a nice blend of regular theme park with a bit of backstory and theming. The concept is pretty fun and reading through the peeps names gave a nice understanding. The main coaster is an interesting ride choice, I'm not sure I like the white rail and purple track a lot but the dive underneath the path and looping the rocket structure is a great moment.

Moonrace Alpha
The interactivity of this is quite novel and letting the viewer change variables to determine the outcome of the race is a good tie in to the theme. The theming feels quite abstract but the more overt monuments such as the large hammer and sickle were nice touches.

The Cosmodrome
Great to see another Soviet theme in here, as I was a bit worried this round may end up being entirely American-led. Glad to see you back in action too, GigaG. This is definitely more mature than your older work and has more thought put into each area. The Sputnik coaster and launch pad form a cool setpiece element.

Race To The Moon
Love the dedication to building the Vehicle Assembly Building at full scale. This is super impressive and is definitely one of the standout pieces of the round. I also really like the Saturn V being wheeled out and on display, great job with that recreation. The rest of the park I think is a bit cramped and has a lot of things jostling for attention. I think on a map like this that is so dominated by its central feature, that macro balance is hard to find. Nonetheless I enjoyed some of the other areas, like the go karts around the rocket garden, and the G-Force coaster.

Advent - A simple but intriguing scene with a bit of mystery to it. The cracked ice is a nice effect.

Model Village - Haha, the tiny versions of custom rides and city cars are ridiculous, very inventive. The city scape is super fun too.

Great first couple of entries, very different vibes!

 

Undead Parish - not familiar with the source material but the atmosphere is super cool and the stacked spooky fences provide a great dark, gothic architecture.

 

Glassware Lake - classic style from an instantly recognisable builder. Super cosy!